Yankees batter White Sox

Jeter ends slump; New York ends six-game skid against White Sox

Associated Press

Published 10:44 pm, Monday, September 2, 2013

Photo: Seth Wenig

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New York Yankees' Vernon Wells, bottom, slides safely into third while Chicago White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie looks on during the fourth inning of the baseball game at Yankee Stadium Monday, Sept. 2, 2013 in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig) ORG XMIT: NYY108 less

New York Yankees' Vernon Wells, bottom, slides safely into third while Chicago White Sox third baseman Conor Gillaspie looks on during the fourth inning of the baseball game at Yankee Stadium Monday, Sept. 2, ... more

Photo: Seth Wenig

Yankees batter White Sox

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New York

In the thick of a playoff race, the New York Yankees were determined to avoid the letdown they had in Chicago last month — when they were swept by the White Sox in a three-game series.

One big inning wiped out any worries.

Derek Jeter ended a slump with two hits and two RBIs, Alex Rodriguez reached base twice in an eight-run fourth inning and the Yankees battered the White Sox 9-1 on Monday in a game interrupted for nearly two hours by rain.

A day after wasting a late lead in a loss to wild-card rival Baltimore, the Yankees rocked reliever Dylan Axelrod and took advantage of the sloppy White Sox for their most productive inning since Oct. 1.

With thunder clapping in the first inning, Jeter had a run-scoring single off Jose Quintana (7-5) to stop an 0-for-14 slide. It was the 3,313th hit of Jeter's career, tying him with Eddie Collins for ninth on the career list.

The Yankees' bats then made all the noise after a delay of 1 hour, 53 minutes, helping them end a six-game skid against Chicago.

"Everybody got kind of loose after that inning," Romine said. "It was fun for us."

The Yankees looked as if they were eager to wipe out the memory of that sweep at the reeling White Sox from Aug. 5-7. New York, which entered Monday 31/2 back for the second AL wild card, follows this series with 11 straight games against East rivals Boston and Baltimore.

Chicago ended a 10-game losing streak with the win Aug. 5 — the night of A-Rod's season debut — and then went on a nice run for the AL Central's last-place team, going 16-7 until being swept by Boston last weekend. Paul Konerko hit his 432nd homer for the White Sox, passing Cal Ripken to take sole possession of 44th place on the home run list.

Rodriguez led off the fourth with an opposite-field double to right. The next six batters reached — and five runs scored — before Robinson Cano popped to second base for the first out.

"We have to play better than that if we're going to start winning games," White Sox manager Robin Ventura said. "The rest of the way out we've got guys who you're kind of evaluating jobs for next year, so it just has to get better."